Romans 4:1-8 - The Jews Heckle Paul about Shit They Don’t Know (Justification Series, Part V)

 Part III: Our Justification, Confirmed

What, then, shall we declare that Abraham, our forefather, according to flesh, has found?

Now we must turn to Abraham, the first guy God quotes as “having faith” in Him (no, Noah doesn’t count, as we’ll see.) We must turn to Abraham because the Jews were not happy about this whole ‘justification’ business, and seeked to discredit the “faith only” doctrine at every turn.

Abraham is our forefather – not just the Jews. He plays a huge role in the circumcision, yes, but all who have a measurement of faith from God today are descendants of Abraham. Yes, our faith is recontextualized in Christ, but it’s still the case (more on that in a bit.) Trace my lineage back and you’ll inevitably find Abraham.

The question, from the Jew, is simply, “What has Abraham found according to the flesh,” or, “What did he get by his own works?” Now, there’s an alternative rendering of the question, here, that’s more popular, which the CLV poses, that asks, “What has Abraham, our forefather according to flesh, found?” Do you see the subtle difference here? Take a second and look at them closely.

In the alternative question, the Jew isn’t merely asking about ‘what Abraham got by his own favor,’ but wants to know if someone like Abraham, who is the forefather of faith, which Paul declares a justification of man, is debarred from boasting, from the previous verses¸in his justification by faith.

The goal here, with either question, is to try and poke a hole in Paul’s argument. If you hate this doctrine, you’re going to start looking through those with ‘faith’ in Scripture and trying to disprove their justification. Remember that back in the day, the Jews had far more religious power, as everyone knew that their God was above their own, and had only, over the previous 400 years (until the time of Paul's writing) begun to doubt the Jews’ Source of power. Thus, openly criticizing the Jewish God, while being a Jew (which Paul was) and teaching that God had used them as a stepping stone to reach the world?? Uh uh. Nope. That gets you stoned (Acts 14:19, 2 Cor. 11:24.)

All this to say that Abraham was, until that point, only perceived as the Jews’ man. He was the one that God promised a kingdom to, and the Jews perceived this as a rite of passage, that man was worthy to be on par with God, while this whole idea of justification in infirmity completely takes that idea and throws it out the window. To bring this idea that Abraham wasn’t merely the forefather of Israel, but of faith among even the nations was heresy! The Jews would do everything they could to plant the idea that Abraham was justified in his works, had a right to boast in his faith, that he did win faith by his own efforts, and that this justification business is solely a Jewish ideal.

Let it be known, unbelievably, that many Christians teach this, even today, as well! Nevermind that these God inspired words, in His evangel, deny this notion, but hey, why not agree with the very line of questioning that Paul is shutting down??

For if Abraham was justified by acts, he has something to boast in, but not toward God. 

This gives more context and further reinforces both my conclusion of the previous chapter, in Rom. 3:28, and the current ‘objection’ with the Jews. Abraham would have something to boast in, if he were somehow not a sinner, the same way literally everyone else is. He would have a boast, yes – but it wouldn’t be in or toward God. It’s incredible that, even if one is made righteous, in this case, they would owe that to God. The Jews, once again, have their line of questioning founded on a self-righteous line of thinking, being that humanity, in becoming righteous, wouldn’t need or rely on God for that perfection (which makes them righteous in effect, not by cause.) I would add that God would, in this theoretical self-righteousness case, suddenly need or rely on Abraham, though He is completely independent of us (Job 38:1-18, Acts 17:25.)

For what is the Scripture saying? Now “Abraham believes God, and it is reckoned to him for righteousness.”

This is my first indication that Abraham served both purposes of faith for God – to purpose the circumcision to be justified out of faith, as well as the uncircumcision through faith. It was not Abraham’s perfect actions that justified his peace with God, but his faith (that was God-given, of course.) Abraham is still allotted and promised the 1,000 year kingdom on earth – don’t mistake him for another member of the Body of Christ, as members of the Body of Christ did not exist until Paul was blinded on the road to Damascus.

This is not to imply that your faith comes from within – Abraham receives righteousness because the “believing” portion requires the God-given faith that he did not attain, but that which he was given. “Boast,” here, would be the wrong ‘b’ word.

I like that he does what I like to do – go read it for yourself. What did it actually say? Sure enough, this passage is found in Genesis 15:6. It was the faith, not the works. The fact that it is reckoned to Abraham is to show that it’s not merely “Abraham believes God, so he is righteous.” That would, again, put the power back in man’s shoes. It’s more than that – the faith he has here is belief that is reckoned to him. It, the faith, is reckoned, from another Source. If it were Abraham reckoning, then Scripture would say “Abraham believes God, and he reckons it to himself for righteousness.” Here’s a great thought from George Rogers:

“His credit is good with God on the ground of his faith, which is reckoned for righteousness. That which the believer does not actually as yet possess, but which is actually in Christ, with Whom he has become united, is reckoned to him. The reckoning is God’s, not man’s, and therefore it is not presumption of faith which asserts its truth.”

Now to the worker, the wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as a debt.

God is not “indebted” to us. What God gives us is not a favor for our works, and this is where I find many people, in their perception of any god, slips up dramatically. Assuming that bad stuff is happening because you’re not doing enough implies that “doing enough” would mean you’re owed something, and God is making it clear with that first line that this is not the case.

Recall the term “slave” which Paul used in verse 1? Does this not make more sense, in relation to the evangel so far? A “slave” isn’t being paid for services rendered, but rewarded in the Master’s reckoning of him.  Indeed, this salvation isn’t a wage, but a gift, as God says later in Ephesians 2:8-9.

Really, think about it! This boils down to two things Abraham could do! Gosh, imagine if he'd taken the other route...

God: I present thee with a gift, Abraham, a kingdom for you and your seed to enjoy in coming eras!

Abraham: I… don’t believe that. Sorry bro.

Yet to him who is not working, yet is believing on Him Who is justifying the irreverent, his faith is reckoned for righteousness.

The previous notion is further elaborated on, here. Faith is what reckons one for righteousness, not “whether you’re working hard enough.” This shows, very clearly, that working for salvation and believing it are two opposing things. This is such a wonderful revelation and this is why I say the Bible is set apart from every other book. It’s not an evangel concerning you or something you should do for any deity, but the evangel of God. What God has done to and for you.

He justifies the irreverent. Funny that Abraham has been Paul’s example, no? The Abraham that we speak of with such reverence? Funny story about him… he was irreverent! Often disrespectful toward God! Need I present the obvious example? After a long, long, long time of not being given a child from God to begin fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham, Abraham does something very telling: here’s Genesis 16:1-4:

“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, she had borne him no children; yet she had an Egyptian maid, and her name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram: Behold now, Yahweh has restrained me from bearing children. Please come to my maid. Perhaps I shall be built up through her. And Abram hearkened to Sarai’s voice… he came to Hagar, and she became pregnant.”

OoooOOps! Somebody stopped listening to God there, hmmm? Sounds like someone started paying attention to his femme fatale, and not his Lord! Seems kinda irreverent to me! This child is born after Hagar flees to the wilderness, and the child is named Ishmael – by God! How does God respond to Abram’s disbelief, now? Let’s fast forward 13 years and check out Genesis 17:1-2:

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him: I am El-Who-Suffices; walk before Me and become flawless. I am determined to give My Covenant between Me and you. I shall increase you exceedingly, exceedingly!

Then Abram fell on his face.”

“Walk before Me and become flawless.” Powerful words from our God. He justifies Abram anyway, that Abram falls on his face in thanks. Then, Abram, who is renamed “Abraham” throughout this passage, asks that Ishmael survive. God replies, in Gen. 17:20:

“As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I will bless him and make him fruitful and increase him exceedingly, exceedingly! He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make a great nation of him.”

Not only is Abraham still blessed with the promise, despite his wavered loyalty, Ishmael is also given a kingdom, which, as we know, are the Arabs.

God justifies the irreverent by faith. This is the natural conclusion from Abraham’s account, here, and the natural conclusion through Paul. They become righteous, that you don’t have to “work” for righteousness.

Even as David also is telling of the happiness of the man to whom God is reckoning righteousness apart from acts: “Happy are they whose lawlessness were pardoned and whose sins were covered over! Happy is the man to whom the Lord by no means should be reckoning sin!”

This quote from David is very telling, considering he himself was an adulterer. An adulterer is still the king? The world must understand that it’s not “how good of a person you are” that truly decides what happens to you. It’s faith. This faith comes with the understanding from the above quote! It is, as Paul has stated before, and myself, an honor to be here! Ladies and gentlemen, relax! You will never be perfect in the flesh, but you are given faith by the love and grace of God!

Let’s get into the technicality of the purpose of this statement a little bit. It has been commonly thought (by many Christian scholars and members of the body of Christ who study Scripture, and until recently, myself,) that David is Paul’s second example of righteousness through faith – yet this is not the case. See those words “Even as?” It disconnects those verses from the previous words, so we understand that there’s another purpose in this quote, separate from Abraham and his righteousness through faith. In fact, it is Paul that references righteousness apart from acts, whereas David doesn’t mention faith or righteousness in his words.

What’s he saying, then? This man, whose lawlessness is pardoned, is recontextualized by Paul, here, to show that a pardon is an effect of covering over. These are two different ideas in the quote – “pardoned” and “covering over” are not the same thing, as God wouldn’t randomly repeat Himself unless it were to cover two different aspects of the same idea, which is clarified in the next sentence. To be “pardoned” is an aspect of justification, but not the complete idea. To have your sins covered over is also an aspect of justification, but not the complete idea.  A pardon is “you sin, but we excuse you,” whereas the “covering over” is “God is hiding your sin.” You add these both together, and you get “God is not reckoning sin to the believer, thus: “Happy the man to whom the Lord by no means should be reckoning sin!”

-  GerudoKing